stickyadj.²

Brit.

/ˈstɪki/, U.S.

/ˈstɪki/

Forms: see stick v.¹ and -y suffix¹

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: stick v.¹, -y suffix¹.

Etymology: < stick v.¹ + -y suffix¹.

a. Tending or designed to stick to things on contact, adhesive; (of a substance) viscid, glutinous.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > [adjective]

thickc888

toughc1000

cleavingc1350

gluey1382

gluish1382

gleiming1387

gummya1398

clammy1398

gleimy1398

viscosec1400

viscousc1400

emplastic?a1425

plastery?c1425

stiffc1430

clamc1440

engleimous?c1475

rawky1509

rich1535

clammish1543

limy1552

strong1560

glutinous1576

cloggy1587

emplastical1590

viscuous1603

plasterish1610

slaba1616

bound1635

viscid1635

lentous1646

spiscious1655

melleous1656

salivarious1656

glutining1658

syrupical1659

glairy1662

gummous1669

gummose1678

mellaginous1681

melligineous1684

pargety1684

sticky1688

sizy1691

dauby1697

syrupy1707

treacly?1734

glaireous1755

flabbyc1780

spissid1782

stodgy1823

waxy1835

teery1848

treacle-like1871

viscoid1877

slauming1904

gooey1906

gloopy1929

gunky1937

gungy1962

yucky1975

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > [adjective] > attached by something adhesive > having adhesive quality

cleavingc1350

holdingc1400

withholdingc1430

fatc1503

gluing1572

adhering1592

viscous1605

tenacious1648

birdlimey1657

adhesive1661

agglutinating1664

sticky1688

clingy1708

adherescent1743

tacky1788

detainable1801

detentive1881

stickfast1888

stick-on1904

1688 T. Jones Y Gymraeg yn ei Disgleirdeb: Dict. Welsh & Eng. Hylyn, gludiog, sticky, glewy, tenatious.

1699 G. Harvey Vanities Philos. & Physick v. 34 If it be not evaporated enough, it will be sticky, and not apt to be brought to a Mass.

1705 R. Pitt Frauds Common Pract. Physick 62 The now always us'd Confections of Treacle and Mithridate, the foul sticky Conserves.

1796 J. Boys Gen. View Agric. Kent (new ed.) 78 Pinnock..is a sticky red clay, mixed with small stones.

1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 31 A well-known sticky substance called putty.

1855 H. W. Longfellow in S. Longfellow Life H. W. Longfellow (1891) II. 290 Everything sticky except postage-stamps.

1864 Intellectual Observer V. 269 In like manner limpid fluids oppose less resistance than sticky ones.

1870 C. Dickens Edwin Drood iii. 20 I'm too stickey to be kissed.

1908 E. Fowler Between Trent & Ancholme 378 Smelling of sticky paint and varnish.

1909 G. Stein Three Lives 27 The horses dragged the carriage slowly over the long road, sticky with brown clay.

1940 N. Mitford Pigeon Pie v. 95 ‘I have just labelled a few little things of my own..’ she said, putting a sticky one firmly on to the giant radiogram.

1996 M. Syal Anita & Me (1997) iii. 48 My hands were sticky from the Zoom lolly I'd just ingested in one gulp.

2011 Toronto Star (Nexis) 12 Aug. (Entertainment section) e1 The hot, sticky mess of oozing marshmallow and melted chocolate.

b. Originally U.S. Of the weather, a day, etc.: hot and humid; muggy.

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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [adjective] > oppressively still or close

mocha1522

faint1525

close1591

clit1610

muggy1638

pothery1696

mochy1794

mucky1804

mungy1809

sulky1817

sticky1855

languorous1887

soggy1897

1855 Spirit of Times 17 Mar. 51/3 The day was of the ‘nastiest’ August kind—hot as melted lead—muggy and sticky.

1876 Hub Mar. 394/1 On these warm, close, sticky, disagreeable days, when every thing that attaches to the paint craft seems to be bewitched.

1977 Washington Post 30 June f2/4 Hot, sticky summer weather—the kind of weather that seems to attack the mind as well as the body with its oppressiveness.

1983 National Trust Spring 16/1 On one of those stifling, sticky days of this curious summer.., at rehearsal, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Norman del Mar were all in shirt sleeves.

2013 R. A. Shelden Washington Brotherhood i. 14 After braving a hot and sticky summer in Washington, members were anxious for the session's end.

c. Medicine. Designating abnormal sounds heard during auscultation of the chest (perhaps thought to resemble the sound of the flow of a viscid fluid, or of the rubbing together of two viscid surfaces).

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sounds heard in body > [adjective] > sounds in auscultation

puerile1821

pectoriloquous1824

large1827

sibilant1833

tubular1834

moist1843

rhonchal1843

pectoriloquial1846

redux1848

murmurish1851

rhonchial1852

bronchophonic1862

sticky1872

coarse1879

skodaic1882

1872 A. L. Loomis Lessons Physical Diagnosis (ed. 3) viii. 76 The rales sometimes are sticky in character, and do not change or disappear in coughing.

1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 681 The posterior parts of the lungs are full of sharp, sticky rales of a quality quite peculiar to the disease.

1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 756 [Pericardial friction sound] has also been described as ‘sticky’.

1960 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 26 Nov. 1585/2 There were sticky rales throughout the lungs.

2010 B. K. Walsh & N. Vehse in B. K. Walsh et al. Perinatal & Pediatric Respiratory Care (ed. 3) xxxii. 568/2 Chest auscultation reveals diffuse, coarse, ‘sticky’ rales (‘Velcro’ rales), which may be accompanied by wheezes.

d. Of a person: unpleasantly damp with sweat.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > perspirations > [adjective] > covered or damp with sweat

swotyc893

besweatc1275

forswatc1325

wetc1400

all on a watera1438

foaming1590

sweaty1590

sweated1654

deliquescent1815

perspiry1860

sticky1884

1884 Testimony Special Comm. State Lunatic Asylum at Utica (N.Y.) 1207 She began to lose appetite, took an electric bath, vomited and complained of feeling sticky.

1903 Dry Goods Reporter 1 Aug. 17/1 The heat and moisture together made everybody feel as sticky as if they had applied a mucilage brush liberally.

1961 M. G. Eberhart Cup, Blade, or Gun xi. 127 She felt cold and hot, sticky and chilly at the same time.

1988 P. P. Read Season in West vii. 94 Feeling sticky after a day in a dirty city..Birek decided to take a bath.

2009 New Statesman (Nexis) 22 June 20 Rickety green buses overloaded with weary, sticky, commuters.

a. Horse Racing. Of a racecourse: having a yielding surface owing to rain.

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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > racecourse > [adjective] > condition of course

sticky1820

raceable1933

1820 Examiner 26 Mar. 130 At the pace, and the turf being rather sticky, the steeple-chaser was too much for him.

1843 Sporting Mag. July 3 We apprehend that the course was a trifle too sticky for his action.

1894 Westm. Gaz. 17 July 6/3 The hurdle race... Here again the time—16 2-5 sec.—on ‘sticky’ turf, was excellent.

1933 Waterloo (Iowa) Daily Courier 27 Apr. 10/3 Mrs. William Crump's Head Play..breezed six furlongs over the sticky course.

1983 M. Foreman & P. Wyse M. Foreman's Horse-training Sci. xiii. 105/1 On sticky ground it may take more than three strides for the horse to reduce his speed.

1990 Canberra Times 15 Sept. (Race Guide) 1/3 She handled a very sticky track the day she won at Doomben.

(a) Cricket. Of the pitch: drying after recent rain and hence difficult to bat on. Chiefly in sticky wicket (see wicket n. 3c). Cf. sticky n. 3.

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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [adjective] > types of surface

fast1844

sticky1870

fiery1874

kicking1885

kicky1888

1870 Bell's Life in London 16 July 3/2 The wicket was sticky, from recent rain, and scores were small.

1871 Bell's Life in London 8 July 12/3 A sticky wicket conduced to the defeat of the Butterflies on the first innings.

1878 Leader (Melbourne) 10 Aug. 13/3 On a sticky wicket, with eighteen good men in the field, [he] was found extremely difficult to score from.

1924 A. C. Maclaren Cricket Old & New xiv. 140 On sticky wickets I should doubt if he ever put down a bad ball.

1948 Manch. Guardian 5 Jan. 2/7 The wicket was a sticky one at first.

1949 Chronicle (Adelaide) 3 Nov. 42/5 Few people realise that the first experience Don Bradman ever had of a sticky pitch was in his first Test match!

1996 T. N. Murari Steps from Paradise 63 It wasn't the cricket season but he wished it was. ‘A sticky wicket,’ he laughed. ‘I'd get a lot of turn on that once it begins drying.’

(b) figurative. colloquial. sticky wicket: an awkward or difficult situation. Chiefly in on a sticky wicket: facing an awkward or difficult situation; in difficulties. Also more fully in to bat (also play) on a sticky wicket: to contend with difficulties.

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the world > action or operation > difficulty > present difficulties [verb (intransitive)] > have difficulty > have to contend with difficulties

to row against the (wind and) tide (also stream, flood, etc.)c1230

to have a tough (hard, long, etc.) row to hoe1810

to spell baker1868

to bat (also play) on a sticky wicket1930

1930 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 14 Apr. 6/4 I am afraid tonight, owing to the rain we have had in this island of Springs, I am batting on rather a sticky wicket.

1931 Times 8 Dec. 14/4 Paying a tribute to the work of Sir Stanley Jackson, who had held the office of Governor of Bengal during a most trying time, Lord Willingdon said:—He has played on a terribly sticky wicket all the time he has been here.

1952 National News-Let. 24 Jan. 244 It must be clearly understood that Mr. Churchill was batting on a very sticky wicket in Washington.

1957 P. Kemp Mine were of Trouble ix. 177 Until substantial reinforcements could arrive we should be batting, in the language of Mr. Naunton Wayne, on a very sticky wicket.

1964 Language 40 239 Enmeshed in these remarks, however, is a sticky wicket.

1971 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 24 Sept. 517 When it comes..to moulded plastics of various kinds, then the timber producer is on a stickier wicket.

2007 Economist 5 May 56/1 Some of the islands' economies may face a sticky wicket.

3. figurative. Mawkish, cloying; excessively sentimental. Cf. sticky-sweet adj. at Compounds, treacly adj.

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the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > sentimentality > [adjective]

sugary1591

maudlina1631

mawkish1702

sickly1766

emetic1770

mawky1773

pamby1820

sentimental1823

saccharine1841

sticky1841

mushy1848

sentimentalizing1856

Christmas card1860

maumish1866

slobbery1875

namby-pamby1883

sloppy1883

slushy1889

sentimentalistic1904

marshmallowy1907

hearts and flowers1911

slobby1913

soppy1918

meltyc1921

lavender1928

saccharescent1930

schmaltzya1934

sloshy1933

gooey1935

icky1938

cheesy1943

drippy1952

soupy1953

squishy1953

saccharined1962

gloopy1965

yechy1969

yucky1970

sucky1971

yuck1971

schmoozy1976

1841 tr. M. Lafarge Memoirs II. xix. 249 She was a young old maid..whose words were somewhat sticky [Fr. gluantes] with the honey of flattery.

1865 Westm. Rev. Oct. 272/1 He writes in the treacly, sticky style.

1915 R. Frost Let. 11 Nov. (1964) 17 He needn't go calling himself sticky names like Gayheart in public.

1925 N. Coward Fallen Angels i. 16 I hope you're not..hurt at our refusing to call you Jasmin?.. It's a sticky name, isn't it—for the house?

2009 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 26 Feb. It's a sweet, if somewhat sticky, tale of redemption and friendships renewed.

a. Of a horse: tending to pause before and after jumping a fence, ditch, etc.; reluctant to take jumps.

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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [adjective] > leaping or prancing > that pauses before and after jumping fence

sticky1845

1845 Sporting Mag. June 379 Such a horse would give a man fewer falls than a sticky jumper.

1853 Sporting Rev. Jan. 271 That..makes all the difference between the magnificent fencer you look forward with pleasure to riding..and the sticky brute.

1886 St. Stephen's Rev. 13 Mar. 11/2 He has one fatal fault for a Liverpool horse which is being sticky at his fences.

1921 19th Cent. Jan. 94 The other occasion is when driving a ‘sticky’ horse at a fence.

1969 Times 7 Apr. 11/1 An abortive endeavour to push a sticky young horse round the novice course.

2007 J. C. Wofford 101 Eventing Tips iii. 107 If your horse is sticky over the ditch, you can pull off to the side.

b. Military. Of troops: slow or reluctant to follow orders. Now rare.

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society > armed hostility > armed forces > [adjective] > qualities

mainc1450

weak1488

unserviceablea1599

new-raised?1609

unrecruited1649

regulated1650

strongish1652

steady1670

mastering1711

undisciplined1718

unbroken1720

reduced1817

sticky1898

mechanicalized1901

u/s1942

society > authority > lack of subjection > [adjective] > not readily responding to command

unready1595

sticky1898

1898 G. W. Steevens With Kitchener to Khartum 305 When they were told to bring out their arms and ammunition they became a bit sticky, as soldiers say. They looked like refusing [etc.].

1902 Macmillan's Mag. Sept. 394 It was this sort of thing which earned for some troops the..admirably descriptive title of sticky.

1915 W. L. Williams Let. 22 May in P. Hart Gallipoli (2011) vii. 162 We ought to have been able to seize the crest quite easily, but the men were sticky and lack of officers very apparent.

1937 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Sept. 685/4 If the troops had not been ‘sticky’ he would have succeeded.

a. Chiefly Stock Market. Of a security or commodity: difficult or slow to sell.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [adjective] > types of securities > types of stock

rigged1826

flat1841

watered1865

sticky1866

weak1875

washed1886

blue chip1894

pawned1903

stripped1979

1866 Vermont Chron. 6 Oct. 3/4 The ordinary fine wool and grades were rather sticky; that is to say, drovers were very much troubled to get their prices for their droves.

1891 Economist 3 Oct. 1276/1 Under certain conditions these securities are rather ‘sticky.’

1901 Times 24 Oct. 7/5 [Local Loans Stock] is ceasing to be ‘sticky’, to use the Stock Exchange slang describing a security which cannot always be sold just when the holder chooses.

1937 Sun (Baltimore) 28 June 12/1 Several recent offerings have been described as ‘sticky’ by dealers—meaning only partially sold.

1960 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Dec. 7/2 Underwriters released two ‘sticky’ corporate debt issues to the free market.

1985 GC & HTJ 22 Mar. 12/3 You may think I am ‘selling my book’, as the stock brokers say when they are unloading a batch of sticky shares they have on hand.

b. Economics. Of prices, interest rates, wages, etc.: resistant to change, slow to respond to altered conditions.

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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [adjective] > resistant to change (of wage)

sticky1904

1904 Campaign Guide (National Union Conservative Assoc. Scotl.) (ed. 10) xiv. 524 In regard to rates in Scotland.., they are more likely to be borne by the owner than is the case in England, where they are paid by the occupier, on the principle that rates are ‘sticky’.

1930 Economist 6 Sept. 453/1 In many cases the amount of available stock has been limited, and when a fair supply has been in sight prices have proved surprisingly ‘sticky’.

1936 J. M. Keynes Gen. Theory Employment iv. xvii. 232 Wages tend to be sticky in terms of money, the money-wage being more stable than the real wage.

1978 Daily Tel. 18 Dec. 14/7 Building society rates tend to follow movements in market rates only rather erratically and usually with a time-lag. As economists say they tend to be ‘sticky’.

2009 Sunday Times (Nexis) 22 Mar. (Business section) 1 Many components of government spending are ‘sticky’ and will prove difficult to cut even in a period of falling prices.

6. colloquial.

a. Of a situation, event, issue, etc.: awkward, difficult, tricky; disagreeable, uncomfortable.

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the world > action or operation > difficulty > [adjective]

arvethc885

uneathOE

arvethlichc1000

evilc1175

hardc1175

deara1225

derfa1225

illc1330

wickeda1375

uneasy1398

difficul?a1450

difficile?1473

difficulta1527

unready1535

craggy1582

spiny1604

tough1619

uphill1622

shrewda1626

spinousa1638

scabrous1646

spinose1660

rugged1663

cranka1745

tight1764

thraward1818

nasty1828

upstream1847

awkward1860

pricklyc1862

bristling1871

sticky1871

rocky1873

dodgy1898

challengeful1927

solid1943

ball-busting1944

challenging1975

the world > action or operation > difficulty > types of difficulty > [adjective] > difficult or awkward

ungaina1500

ungainful1565

awky1655

awkward1709

embarrassing1778

unked1861

sticky1871

1871 Era 13 Aug. 10/4 'Tis not a part for a ‘stick’ to play, although, in theatrical parlance, rather a ‘sticky’ part.

1915 D. O. Barnett Let. in In Happy Memory 86 We had a rather sticky time in the trenches..as the enemy's artillery and snipers showed ‘a certain liveliness’.

1942 P. G. Wodehouse Money in Bank xix. 182 It is a human trait to keep on hoping, however sticky the outlook.

1955 Times 22 Aug. 2/7 The play became rather sticky and it looked like one or two fouls before the umpires blew on a B.A.O.R. player.

1960 L. Cooper Accomplices i. ii. 17 It was the stickiest do I've ever been in and I thanked God I'd been taught to fight.

1976 Lancs. Evening Post 7 Dec. 1/5 Preston South Labour MP Mr Stan Thorne..faced the prospect of a sticky interview with Government whips.

1977 B. Pym Quartet in Autumn xv. 127 He was so used to sticky church occasions that a lunch with two former colleagues should have been well within his powers.

1979 Nature 7 June 461/2 The sticky issues, however, will be over the appropriate forms of accountability and responsibility.

2009 Daily Tel. 23 Nov. 1/6 Things got sticky when I refused to conduct offensive operations against Mahdi Army as directed.

b. Of a person or his or her behaviour: difficult to cope with, awkward, uncooperative; tending to make difficulties (about or over something). Also: strait-laced, punctilious, particular. Cf. sticky adj.¹ 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > difficulty > types of difficulty > [adjective] > difficult or intractable (of things) > difficult to deal with (of persons)

difficult1589

awkwardish1613

awkward1863

sticky1882

the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > discourtesy > [adjective] > not affable

strange1338

estrangec1374

formal?1518

cold1557

squeamish1561

icy1567

buckrama1589

repulsive1598

starched1600

unaffable1603

stiff1608

withdrawing1611

reserved1612

aloof1639

cool1641

uncordial1643

inaffable1656

staunch1659

standfra1683

distant1710

starcha1716

distancing1749

pokerish1779

buckramed1793

angular1808

easeless1811

touch-me-not1817

starchy1824

standoffish1826

offish1827

poker-backed1830

standoff1837

stiffish1840

chilly1841

unapproachable1848

hedgehoggy1866

sticky1882

hard-to-get1899

stand-away1938

princesse lointaine1957

1882 L. Troubridge Jrnl. in J. Hope-Nicholson Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 162 Rather a sticky audience who evidently thought it vulgar to laugh, and only sniggered into their pocket handkerchiefs.

1925 T. E. Lawrence Let. 3 Nov. (1938) 486 I've got too many subscribers, so am very sticky over these last copies.

1933 C. Mackenzie Water on Brain viii. 115 Personally I've always advocated the spending of money. The only snag is the Treasury. They've been sticky lately.

1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins iii. 34 He didn't actually call me a waster..but his manner was sticky.

1940 R. Graves & A. Hodge Long Week-end ix. 135 Even the stickiest British families seemed ready to abandon their mistrust of the cinema, if the vulgar American scene could only be replaced by a wholesome British one.

1953 J. Bingham Five Roundabouts to Heaven iii. 26 Sometimes aunt Emily was a bit sticky about paying up.

1954 National Advocate (Bathurst, Austral.) 28 May 8/4 He hadn't wanted to go over to Pete Renton; Pete was a sticky customer.

1972 J. Philips Vanishing Senator (1973) iii. ii. 127 Bernstein will tell you. If he acts sticky have him call me.

2007 G. Hurley One Under xvi. 351 They got sticky about deadlines up at QA.

a. Long-lasting, persistent.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > duration > [adjective] > long-lasting or enduring

longeOE

longsomeeOE

long of lifeOE

lastinga1225

cleaving1340

continualc1340

dwellingc1380

long-livinga1382

everlastingc1384

long-duringa1387

long-lasting?a1400

long-liveda1400

broadc1400

permanable?c1422

perseverant?a1425

permanentc1425

perdurable?a1439

continuedc1440

abiding1448

unremoved1455

eternalc1460

long-continued1464

continuing1526

long-enduring1527

enduring1532

immortal1538

diuturn?1541

veterated1547

resiant?1567

stayinga1568

well-wearinga1568

substantive1575

pertinacious1578

extant1581

ceaseless1590

marble1596

of length1597

longeval1598

diuturnal1599

nine-lived1600

chronic1601

unexhausted1602

chronical1604

endurable1607

continuant1610

indeflourishing1610

aged1611

indurant1611

continuatea1616

perennious1628

seculara1631

undiscontinueda1631

continuated1632

untransitory1632

long-spun1633

momently1641

stative1643

outliving1645

constant1653

long-descended1660

voluminousa1661

perduring1664

perdurant1671

livelong1673

perennial1676

longeve1678

consequential1681

unquenched1703

lifelong1746

momentary1755

inveterate1780

stabile1797

persistent1826

unpassing1831

all-time1846

year-long1846

teak-built1847

lengthful1855

long-term1867

long haul1873

sticky1879

week-to-week1879

perenduring1883

long-range1885

longish1889

long-time1902

long run1904

long-life1915

1879 Gardeners' Chron. 8 Mar. 297/3 A bad reputation is usually of a very sticky nature, and difficult to shake off.

1914 R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins in Panhandle xxxvi. 373 What a state a feller's mind must be in to shake off two sticky names like Lester and Percival, and then to label himself Gerald of his own free will.

1996 J. G. Geer Tea Leaves to Opinion Polls i. 36 Because of the commitment citizens have to their ‘sticky’ views, officeholders must..win over a doubtful electorate.

2012 Denver Post (Nexis) 21 Sept. 5 c There aren't any catch phrases as absurdly sticky as ‘I drink your milkshake’.

b. Computing. Of a thread in a mailing list, newsgroup, or other online forum: set to always appear first in the list of threads displayed on that forum. Also of a post in a blog or within a thread on an online forum: set to always appear above the rest of the posts. Cf. sticky n. 5.Sticky posts and threads typically contain information considered to be important or useful to the user.

ΚΠ

1995 Newbee Out to save Usenet in news.future (Usenet newsgroup) 21 Feb. Sticky posts..for FAQ's... The sticky posts would require a net addressable archive site.

2005 ExtremeTech.com (Nexis) 15 Feb. Just click the ‘Thread Options’ link..and you can easily..make the thread sticky.

2016 WordPress Web Design for Dummies (ed. 3) 298 You can use a custom tag to display custom styles for sticky posts (posts that stay at the top of your blog at all times).

c. Of a website, mobile app, etc.: attracting long or repeated visits from users.

ΚΠ

1996 Boston Globe 13 Dec. c16/2 You have to make your Web site sticky; you have to make it fun and entertaining so people will want to come back.

2000 Times 3 Aug. (Appointments Network Executive section) 4/2 Website experts measure the attractiveness of pages by how ‘sticky’ they are, or how long visitors dwell.

2006 Observer (Nexis) 26 Mar. 9 News Corp's plan is to improve on the portal model by making MySpace inherently sticky using both technology and content.

2012 Rough Notes Sept. 26/1 Agents struggle..with creating sound, interesting, and ‘sticky’ content day in and day out.

Phrases

P1. sticky fingers: used allusively to indicate that someone is given to stealing. Frequently in to have sticky fingers: to be given to stealing, to be a thief.Cf. sticky-fingered adj. at Compounds, to have fingers made of lime-twigs at finger n. Phrases 2d.

ΚΠ

1840 Med. Times 25 Jan. 170/3 The managers of the public institutions in question have strangely sticky fingers.

1976 A. Miller Inside Outside i. 16 To safeguard the money from the sticky fingers of some of the boys.

1993 F. Weldon in M. Bradbury & A. Motion New Writing 2 119 Serve them right, we cry—the bastards, the property developers, sticky fingers in the pension fund.

1995 Denver Post 5 Mar. a13/1 I can remember his mother drank too much and had sticky fingers.

P2. colloquial. to come to a sticky end and variants: to die or come to grief in violent or exceptionally unpleasant circumstances.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail or be unsuccessful [verb (intransitive)] > come to grief

misfareOE

miswendOE

misferec1275

misspeeda1387

miscarryc1387

mischieve?a1400

to catch copper1530

to lose one's seatc1540

mischief1598

to bu(r)st one's boiler1824

to come to grief1850

to come (also go) a mucker1851

to come (fall, get) a cropper1858

mucker1862

to go or be up the flume1865

to come undone1899

to play smash1903

to come to a sticky end1904

to come unstuck1911

the world > life > death > manner of death > die in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > die violently

perishc1275

to shed blood?1473

to die in one's shoes1694

to come to a sticky end1904

1904 Telegraph (Brisbane) 3 Aug. 6/1 His warning that Madame Sophie, if she did not mind, would come to a ‘nasty, sticky end’, was the signal for screams of laughter.

1913 Hansard Commons 10 July 685 That Government came to a more sticky end than almost any other Government in the last hundred years.

1915 H. Rosher In Royal Naval Air Service (1916) 40 I wish we could get out to the front... I would much rather come to a sticky end out there than here.

1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement xi. 566 Never mind, he'll come to a sticky finish before he's done.

1970 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird ix. 142 The heroines I've seen come to a sticky end because while the murderer's still running around no one calls in the police.

1998 Callaloo 21 549 Of the six protagonists, some meet a sticky end, others disappear without a sound, and still others bring hope.

2006 Heat 18 Mar. 110/3 The moustachioed sleuth..ends up snooping for clues when the host comes to a sticky end.

Compounds

stickyback n. chiefly British (now rare) a small stamp-sized photograph with a gummed back; (also) a poster with a gummed back.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > a photograph > [noun] > photograph by style or subject

high key1849

carte1861

carte-de-visite1861

wedding group1861

vignette1862

studio portrait1869

press photograph1873

cameo-type1874

war picture1883

mug1887

panel1888

snapshot1890

fuzz-type1893

stickyback1903

action photograph1904

action picture1904

scenic1913

still1916

passport photo1919

mosaic1920

press photo1923

oblique1925

action shot1927

passport photograph1927

profile shot1928

smudgea1931

glossy1931

photomontage1931

photomural1931

head shot1936

pin-up1943

mug shot1950

wedding photograph1956

wedding photo1966

full-frontal1970

photofit1970

split beaver1972

upskirt1994

selfie2002

society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publishing or spreading by leaflets or notices > [noun] > placarding, postering, or billing > a placard, notice, or bill > types of

window bill?1790

showcard1826

officiality1843

window card1846

star bill1876

one-sheet1895

stickyback1903

hanger1905

wanted poster1925

dazibao1960

wall-poster1962

1903 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. 3 July 540/1 The apparatus for producing ‘Sticky-backs’ may be obtained of Messrs. Sharp and Hitchmough.

1906 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. 10 Aug. 639/1 I at once set my face against cheap or nasty work, also midgets or stickybacks.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. iv. [Calypso] 55 Stamps: stickyback pictures.

1928 Weekly Disp. 20 May 2/2 She..brought out a sticky-back of a gentleman in his shirt-sleeves.

1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Let. 4 Jan. in Coll. Ess. (1968) I. 378 The commonsense thing to do would be to accumulate the things we should need for the production of pamphlets, stickybacks etc.

sticky-backed plastic n. Chiefly British = sticky-back plastic n.

ΚΠ

1965 San Antonio (Texas) Light 21 Dec. 35/1 Begin with an empty oatmeal carton, cover it with sticky-backed plastic paper.

2007 R. Feasey Primary Sci. for Teaching Assistants viii. 69 Glass mirrors should be backed with tape or sticky-backed plastic so that if the mirror is dropped the pieces stay together.

sticky-back plastic n. Chiefly British a sheet of thin clear or coloured plastic film with adhesive on one side, used as a protective covering.

ΚΠ

1961 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 14 Aug. 5 The Game Commission has devised a new big game tag, sticky back plastic packed something like a big band-aid, with different color for the different animals.

2009 J. Stroud in W. Jackson Completely Conkers 13 ‘You'll need an empty washing up liquid bottle, a couple of toilet rolls, an egg box and a sheet of green sticky-back plastic.’ Words that launched one-thousand-and-one epic Blue Peter craft projects.

sticky bomb n. (during the Second World War (1939–45)) an anti-tank grenade covered with an adhesive substance to make it stick to its target; (in later use) any bomb designed to stick to its target.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > grenade

trombe1562

grenade1591

grenado1611

granata1637

hand grenade1637

bag-granado1638

shell1647

glass-grenade1664

globe1672

flask1769

petrol bomb1903

rifle grenade1909

hairbrush1916

Mills1916

pineapple bomb1916

stick grenade1917

fragmentation bomb1918

pineapple1918

potato-masher grenade1925

spitball1925

Molotov cocktail1940

sticky bomb1940

stick-bomb1941

red devila1944

stun grenade1977

flash-bang1982

1940 W. S. Churchill Let. 6 June in Second World War (1949) II. i. viii. 149 It is of the utmost importance to find some projectile which can be fired from a rifle at a tank... The ‘sticky’ bomb seems to be useful for..this.

1941 Daily Mirror 9 July 8/2 ‘Sticky bombs’ are now being used by the British forces against Vichy armoured units in Syria.

1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File vi. 38 It was a sticky bomb about as big as two cans of soup end to end; on impact its very small explosive charge spread a sort of napalm through tank visors.

2012 M. R. Gordon & B. E. Trainor Endgame xxvi. 502 While he was gone a ‘sticky bomb’ attached to the back of his chair exploded.

sticky bun n. a sweet bun, esp. one covered in icing or sugar; (North American) a (typically spiral-shaped) bun with a filling of nuts or dried fruit and a sticky caramelized coating.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > bun > [noun]

bun1371

wig1376

barley-bun1552

simnel cake1699

simlin1701

muffin1703

Chelsea bun1711

cross-bun1733

hot cross bun1733

penny bun1777

Sally Lunn1780

huffkin1790

Bath-bun1801

teacake1832

English muffin1842

saffron bun1852

Belgian bun1854

Valentine-bun1854

cinnamon roll1872

lunn1874

Yorkshire teacake1877

barmbrack1878

cinnamon bun1879

sticky bun1880

pan dulce1882

schnecke1899

wad1919

tabnab1933

1880 Daily News 19 Aug. 5/7 These outlays..debar him from any indulgence in the sticky buns with sugarplums on the top.

1883 Leisure Hour Sept. 517/1 That's one of the things I hate—eating in a railway carriage; the peculiar smell of sticky buns, too, and of orange peel.

1909 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Daily Press 31 Aug. 2/4 Josef's thoughts and fingers lingered around a sticky bun in his desk.

1961 Times 14 Mar. 7/3 There are no more sticky buns or cream doughnuts for hungry schoolboys at March Grammar School.

1992 I. Banks Crow Road (1993) vii. 171 Come on; yer Aunty Ashley'll buy you a coffee and a sticky bun.

2002 Backwoods Home Mag. Nov. 57/3 Make cinnamon sweet rolls or sticky buns.

sticky catchfly n. any of several flowering plants of the genus Silene (family Caryophyllaceae), having sticky stems, seeds, etc.; esp. a Eurasian campion of rocks and crags, S. viscaria, having spikes of bright pink flowers and often dark sticky bands around the stem beneath each node (also called clammy campion, red catchfly).

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > campions and catchflies

rose campion1530

jagged pink1574

cuckoo-gilliflower1578

flower Constantinople1578

marsh gilliflower1578

wild William1578

crow-flower1597

gardener's delight1597

nonsuch1597

cuckoo-flower1629

fair maid of France1629

meadow pink1660

Bristol Non-such1668

flower of Bristol1672

knight-cross1725

ragged robin1731

fair maid of Kent1813

flower of Jove1840

mullein pink1840

fire pink1848

sticky catchfly1908

1908 Amer. Florist 26 Dec. 1100/2 L[ychnis] Viscaria splendens plena—the clammy or sticky catchfly—so called on account of the sticky substance exuding from near the base of the flowers and the upper parts of the stems.

1923 Vet. Med. Aug. 737/2 J. W. Provan of Traer, Iowa, sends in a specimen of sticky catchfly which has been suspected of being poisonous. The technical name of this plant is Silene noctiflora.

1984 J. Cooper Common Years 252 We then try to identify tall shocking-pink flower by Flasher's Point. Rachel thinks it's sticky catchfly, which sounds rather dubious, bearing in mind its location.

2007 Evening News (Edinb.) (Nexis) 8 Mar. 22 Arthur's Seat is a Site of Special Scientific Interest with interesting rock formations and unusual plants such as sticky catchfly.

sticky dog n. Cricket colloquial a pitch that has been drying after rain and is difficult to bat on; cf. sticky wicket at sense 2b(a).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [noun] > surface of ground > types of

batsman's wicket1876

bowler's wicket1876

shirt front1893

sticky dog1904

sticky1936

turning pitch1956

belter1983

1904 Navy & Army Illustr. 9 July 467/1 On a ‘sticky dog’ Rhodes is probably the best bowler in the world.

1982 P. Tinniswood More Tales from Long Room vii. 86 When the sun appears again, as appear it always will, there will be no ‘sticky dog’ and play will be resumed on time.

2013 Cricketer May 58/1 Burgess: It was the worst pitch we played on of all those tour matches. Turner: A sticky dog.

sticky end n. Genetics an end of a DNA double helix at which one strand extends a few nucleotides beyond the other. The end of the DNA strand is ‘sticky’ because it easily binds to a complementary strand.

ΚΠ

1964 F. H. C. Crick in Proc. 6th Internat. Congr. Biochem. 112/2 The lysogenic virus λ appears to have ‘sticky ends’, and one can form a circle, or several can join together end to end into a large circle or longer straight line.

1968 New Scientist 18 July 142/1 This [enzyme] can be used for linking up small nucleotide sequences by what Professor Khorana calls the ‘sticky end’ technique.

1988 Financial Times 19 Jan. 32/8 Oligomers of 50-80 base pairs with sticky ends of 5-7 base pairs.

2012 L. Buckingham Molecular Diagnostics (ed. 2) i. 14/2 Sticky ends can be converted to blunt ends using DNA polymerase to extend the recessed strand in a sticky end.

sticky-fingered adj. given to stealing, light-fingered; cf. sticky fingers at Phrases 1.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > petty theft or pilfering > [adjective]

light-fingered1546

lime-fingered1546

pilfering1546

fine-fingeredc1555

filching1570

mitching1576

lurching1577

lime-twig1602

nimming1603

pitchy1660

fingerative1674

marauding1748

light-handed1769

tarry1822

tarry-fingered1825

sticky-fingered1855

panhandling1884

tarry-fisted1906

1855 N.-Y. Daily Times 10 Sept. 4/3 The dumb endurance with which New-Yorkers submit to the extortions and malversations of their grabbing and sticky-fingered City Officials.

1932 D. Acland Sticky Fingers xxv. 314 What a crew we are—sticky-fingered, every one of us.

2012 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 Nov. (Business section) d5 Sticky-fingered employees pose a much bigger threat to retailers than their employers might have believed.

sticky foam n. chiefly U.S. a highly adhesive viscous substance in the form of a foam which can be sprayed in string-like ribbons as a means of immobilizing a person, disabling a mechanism, etc.Sticky foam was developed and patented by Sandia National Laboratories in the late 1970s.In quot. 1967 not a fixed collocation.

ΚΠ

1967 R. J. Heaston in Cellular Plastics (National Acad. Sci.-National Res. Council (U.S.)) i. 10 It is also quite possible that foamed plastics could be used for active devices such as foamed explosives, a foam thrower, or a sticky foam for use as an intrusion barrier.]

1978 Energy Res. Abstr. (U.S. Department of Energy) 30 Nov. 5281/2 Sticky foam... Access to a space is impeded by the generation of a sticky foam from a tacky polymeric resin and a low-boiling-point solvent.

1985 Washington Post 27 Aug. a5/5 When the lock is tampered with, it ‘releases a substance that's stickier than molasses into the locking mechanism’, Hoover said. ‘We call it sticky foam, and we think it works.’

1995 Stars & Stripes 6 Nov. 3/1 During the 1994 U.S. troop withdrawal from Somalia, Marines used ‘sticky foam’ and road spikes to create barriers between Somalis and departing U.S. and U.N. personnel.

2001 Altoona (Pa.) Mirror 3 Mar. c2/6 Stink bombs and sticky foam have been tested, as well as sonic weapons whose high-intensity sound waves disrupt internal organs.

sticky note n. (a) a small piece of (often yellow) notepaper with a lightly adhesive strip along one edge of the reverse side, enabling it to be stuck to a surface, and to be easily removed when necessary (cf. sticky n. 1b and Post-it n.); (b) Computing a note or comment attached to selected content in an electronic document, typically appearing in a separate window or frame to that of the document itself; (in later use also) a small window that can be placed within another window or screen and used for leaving notes and comments, typically designed to resemble a sticky note (sense (a)) and to remain in place even if the computer is restarted.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > paper > [noun] > other types of paper

writing paper1610

gilt paper1645

chancery-double1712

stamp paper1765

satin paper1776

cardstock1840

tablet paper1876

quadrille1884

P.O.P.1895

copy-paper1902

Silurian1942

sticky note1978

1978 Lima (Ohio) News 17 Aug. 21/2 (advt.) Try sticky notes—The message that sticks to anything. Great for home or office.

1988 Herald (Melbourne) (Nexis) 15 June (Business section) 21 The sticky-note function in Debut can be set to pop up whenever a certain piece of text or series of numbers appear on the screen.

1996 G. Kent Internet Publishing with Acrobat ii. 33 Notes that are similar to the digital sticky notes commonly used to annotate information.

2014 M. Miller Top 100 Windows 8.1 Apps xvii. 199 You can pin any sticky note directly to the Windows Start screen.

2015 Smith Jrnl. Summer 138/1 I am there with these giant hundred-year-old books and my sticky notes and highlighter and pen.

sticky paper n. (a) flypaper; (b) paper with a layer of adhesive on one side, usually in small pieces for attaching to another surface such as a larger sheet of paper or card.

ΚΠ

1851 Era 25 May 5/1 As flies are caught upon sticky paper prepared for the grocer and the pastry-cook.

1925 Times 19 Mar. 6/4 I..have..put a bit of sticky paper over the yacht's name.

1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It i. 3 They were caught..like the flies caught wriggling in sticky-paper.

2014 Church Times 4 Apr. 12/2 The words ‘Messy Church’ conjure up an image of toddlers, sticky paper, and toys.

sticky rice n. a variety of rice, grown mainly in South, South East, and East Asia, which becomes glutinous when cooked.

ΚΠ

1842 J. Brooke Jrnl. 20 June in H. Keppel Exped. Borneo (1846) I. xiii. 306 Their [sc. the Dyaks'] provision is a particular kind of sticky rice, boiled in bamboos.

1989 A. Tan Joy Luck Club 73 A woven hamper filled with zong zi—the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves.

2014 Guardian 4 Oct. (Weekend Suppl.) 80/1 Sticky rice..served..inside a lidded bamboo kratip, every grain separate but clinging onto its pals for dear life.

sticky-sweet adj. (esp. of food) that is both sticky and sweet; (figurative, of a person or thing) unpleasantly sweet, cloying.

ΚΠ

1893 Punch 27 Mar. 241/1 The tarts we once were fain to eat, The penny ice, the jumble sticky-sweet.

1915 P. Scarlet Scarlet Fairy Bk. iv. 39 She spoke in a delicate sticky-sweet voice.

1962 R. Newton Cinderella 4 Cinderella is not the sticky-sweet variety in this version, but a..girl with a bubbling sense of humor.

1999 N.Y. Times 20 Sept. e6/4 Whenever his dead wife is mentioned, sticky-sweet music plays.

2007 M. Bittman How to cook Everything Vegetarian 424/1 Fresh dates are in season from late summer to the middle of fall, and they're sticky-sweet, tender, and juicy.

sticky tape n. a strip of paper, plastic, or film coated with adhesive, used to mask or insulate something, or to stick two things together; adhesive tape.rare in U.S. usage.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > adhesive > [noun] > adhesive tape

adhesive tape1887

sticky tape1890

duck tape1899

passepartout1910

durex tape1932

Scotch tape1934

durex1938

Sellotape1949

duct tape1965

1890 Amer. Gas Light Jrnl. 1 Sept. 297/1 Do not wrap three or four layers of sticky tape round the joints, and imagine that you have thereby restored the original insulation.

1973 R. Parkes Guardians ix. 162 The naked body had been strapped into the armchair with yards of sticky tape.

2008 Financial Times 16 Feb. (Life & Arts section) 9/3 The cheapest option is to use paper, pen and sticky tape.

sticky toffee pudding n. originally and chiefly British a dessert consisting of a sponge cake with chopped dates, covered in a thick toffee sauce and typically served with ice cream or custard. In quot. 1976¹ referring to a different recipe.

ΚΠ

1976 Observer 18 Apr. 19/5 She'd have started, she says, with Sticky Toffee Pudding, which happens when you soak very thick slices of bread in milk, fry them in butter or marge, and while they're doing, pour golden syrup over all.

1976 Guardian 11 Nov. 13/2 Britain still has a great deal to offer with sweets..like sticky toffee pudding and bakewell tarts.

2015 J. Atherton Social Sweets 75/1 In the dead of winter, nothing beats a good sticky toffee pudding at the end of a meal.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	sticky
释义	stickyn. Brit. /ˈstɪki/, U.S. /ˈstɪki/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: sticky adj.² Etymology: < sticky adj.²In sense 1b short for sticky note n. at sticky adj.² Compounds. In sense 2 humorously after movie n. In sense 3 short for sticky wicket at sticky adj.² 2b(a); compare also earlier sticky dog n. at sticky adj.² Compounds. colloquial. 1. a. Something that is sticky, esp. something designed to adhere, as a sticking plaster, a stamp, adhesive tape, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > [noun] > viscous substance paste1390 gummosityc1400 gleimc1440 glaira1529 viscosity1540 plaster1588 emplastic1597 batter1601 starcha1627 mucilage1639 viscus1643 grume1718 syrup1838 sticky1851 goo1903 gloop1927 goop1930 glop1945 ick1947 gunge1969 the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > [noun] > adhesion > that which is adhesive sticky1851 1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 217/2 I give below a vocabulary of their [sc. patterers'] talk to each other:..Sticky, wax. 1857 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold (1858) iii. iii. 267 One, who hawked ‘kite’ and ‘sticky’ (paper and wax) as an excuse for begging. 1905 Gazette (Glenboro, Manitoba) 24 Mar. Buster has a glue-pot, for gumming wet backed stickies. 1913 Dial. Notes 4 28 We got covered with sticky and could hardly walk at all. 1937 E. Partridge Dict. Slang 831/1 Sticky,..sticking-plaster: lower and lower-middle class coll. 1966 I. Jefferies House-surgeon viii. 154 Bring me some more sticky and that pint of blood in the fridge. 1967 E. Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1390/2 Sticky,..since late 1940's, usu. cellulose tape (Sellotape, Scotch tape, etc.). 1975 Daily Mail 3 June 11/2 As well as cash, the thieves took ‘stickies’—the slang term for postage, national insurance and TV licence stamps. 2001 J. D. Sleightholme Funny Old Life (2007) xiv. 114 He whipped out his yachting knife, slashed off a lock of my hair and smacked a sticky on the gash. b. A small piece of (typically yellow) notepaper with an adhesive strip along one edge of the reverse side, enabling it to be stuck temporarily to a surface, esp. as a marker or for messages, comments, or reminders. Cf. Post-it n., sticky note n. (a) at sticky adj.² Compounds. ΚΠ 1986 Chicago Tribune 3 Aug. vi. 3/1 I'm now addicted to the ‘yellow stickies’, jabbing them on such things as books, articles, cartoons, letters, floppy disks and the refrigerator. 1996 Sky Mag. Oct. 217/2 My student digs are littered with stickies as I keep making list after list of things to do. 2000 I. Pattison Stranger here Myself (2001) 335 He opened a thick medical tome marked at a picture page with a yellow sticky. 2014 R. H. Hall Land of Shadows xlvi. 250 Colin had left a sticky on my computer monitor. Catching a nap in the cot room. 2. A slow-moving film.Apparently an isolated use. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [noun] > other types romantic comedy1748 epic1785 pre-release1871 foreign film1899 frivol1903 dramedy1905 film loop1906 first run1910 detective film1911 colour film1912 news film1912 topical1912 cinemicrograph1913 scenic1913 sport1913 newsreel1914 serial1914 sex comedy1915 war picture1915 telefilm1919 comic1920 true crime1923 art house1925 quickie1926 turkey1927 two-reeler1928 smellie1929 disaster film1930 musical1930 feelie1931 sticky1934 action comedy1936 quota quickie1936 re-release1936 screwball comedy1937 telemovie1937 pickup1939 video film1939 actioner1940 space opera1941 telepic1944 biopic1947 kinescope1949 TV movie1949 pièce noire1951 pièce rose1951 deepie1953 misterioso1953 film noir1956 policier1956 psychodrama1956 free film1958 prequel1958 co-production1959 glossy1960 sexploiter1960 sci-fier1961 tie-in1962 chanchada1963 romcom1963 wuxia1963 chick flick1964 showreel1964 mockumentary1965 sword-and-sandal1965 schlockbuster1966 mondo1967 peplum1968 thriller1968 whydunit1968 schlocker1969 buddy-buddy movie1972 buddy-buddy film1974 buddy film1974 science-fictioner1974 screwball1974 buddy movie1975 slasher movie1975 swashbuckler1975 filmi1976 triptych1976 autobiopic1977 Britcom1977 kidflick1977 noir1977 bodice-ripper1979 chopsocky1981 date movie1983 kaiju eiga1984 screener1986 neo-noir1987 indie1990 bromance2001 hack-and-slash2002 mumblecore2005 dark fantasy2007 hack-and-slay2007 gorefest2012 kidult- 1934 E. M. Forster in Spectator 19 Jan. 81/1 British ladies and gentlemen turn the movies into the stickies for old Elstree's sake. 3. Cricket. Australian colloquial. A pitch that is drying after recent rain; a sticky wicket. Cf. sticky adj.² 2b(a). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [noun] > surface of ground > types of batsman's wicket1876 bowler's wicket1876 shirt front1893 sticky dog1904 sticky1936 turning pitch1956 belter1983 1936 Truth (Sydney) 18 Oct. 6/6 (headline) Bradman on a ‘sticky’. 1954 A. G. Moyes Austral. Batsmen 184 Again, the ‘sticky’ provides plenty of excitement. 2010 M. Ray in J. Stern My Favourite Cricketer 172 After a net on a good pitch, he would go up to the end and practise on a sticky. 4. A sweet wine; a dessert wine.Frequently with reference to Australian wines. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > types of wine > [noun] > sweet wine honey-teareOE sweet winec1386 bastard?c1425 dulce1601 brown bastard1609 dulce1849 vino dolce1902 vino dulce1911 vin doux1958 sticky1982 1982 Private Eye 13 Aug. 13/2 All you ever get in the Alps is some ghastly sticky made out of rotting Edelweiss. 1983 Canberra Times 4 July 10 A wine for all lovers of ‘stickies’. 1998 GQ Aug. 87/3 Some of these ‘stickies’ are ideal for pouring over ice cream and certain other desserts. 2005 Financial Times 2 July w4/7 Cave Au Bleu de Temps, which offers a good range of Gaillac wines, including sweet stickies rarely seen beyond the region. 5. Computing. In a mailing list, newsgroup, or other online forum: a thread set to always appear first in the list of threads displayed on that forum. Also: (in a blog or within a thread on an online forum) a post set to always appear above the rest of the posts. Cf. sticky adj.² 7b.Stickies typically contain information considered to be important or useful to the user. ΚΠ 2005 Re: Audio CD—suddenly no Sound in microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (Usenet newsgroup) 27 Jan. I think we need a ‘sticky’ as I've seen it referred to, about losing Troubleshooter as a result of the most recent critical update. 2011 Re: Domes of the World Map in Geodesic Help Group (Usenet newsgroup) 21 Oct. If I make a post into a ‘sticky’ at the top, I didn't want a bunch of other topics thrown into the discussion. 2015 Jrnl. Documentation 71 309 Stickies..generally establish rules or express..viewpoints that are deemed sympathetic by the moderators and the board's community. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022). stickyadj.¹ Brit. /ˈstɪki/, U.S. /ˈstɪki/ Forms: see stick n.¹ and -y suffix¹. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: stick n.¹, -y suffix¹. Etymology: < stick n.¹ + -y suffix¹. With use with reference to a person (see sense 3) compare earlier stick-like adj. at stick n.¹ Derivatives and stickish adj. 1. Of a plant, or part of a plant: resembling or characteristic of a stick; hard, woody. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > wood > [adjective] sticky1542 woody1597 ligneous1626 hearted1651 lignous1664 lignose1698 lignescenta1706 1542 T. Elyot Bibliotheca Aster atticus,..hath a stycky stalke, on the toppe a flowre purple or yelowe. 1578 T. Cooper Thesaurus (new ed.) at Radix Lignosa radix,..a stickie roote. 1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §583 But Herbs draw a Weake Iuyce; And haue a Soft Stalke; And therefore those amongst them which last longest, are Herbs of Strong Smell, and with a Sticky Stalke. 1677 W. Hubbard Narr. Troubles with Indians New-Eng. 81 The Ground-nuts running up to seed in the summer, began to grow so sticky, as they were scarce eatable. 1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 34 If left to grow too rank, the stalk is apt to grow hard and sticky. 1765 Museum Rusticum 3 186 If he leaves it [sc. vetch] till the seeds are nearly ripe, the stalks harden, grow sticky, and are of far less value. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 570 The stem or blade becomes firm and sticky. 1882 Garden 4 Mar. 141/2 The Mezereon..is so often starved, and sticky and poor. 1980 A. Beattie Falling in Place (1981) i. 3 Forget the stick-y lilacs and the diseased peach tree with branches that splayed like umbrella spokes. †2. Painting. Characterized by a lack of sinuosity. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > qualities or styles of painting > [adjective] > other qualities or styles plangent1666 dry1695 sticky1753 flat1755 spotty1798 touchy1809 definitive1815 edgy1825 painty1827 scratchy1827 unideal1838 tinglish1855 generalist1858 tinny1877 Christmas-cardy1883 tinty1883 surfacy1887 chocolate box1892 chocolate-boxy1894 Christmas card1895 juicy1897 candy box1898 pastose1901 busy1909 pompier1914 posterish1914 painterly1932 X-ray1940 illusional1942 all-over1948 figurative1960 hard-edge1961 1753 W. Hogarth Anal. Beauty x. 109 Fig. 66..was..treated in a more dry, stiff, and what the painters call ‘sticky’ manner than the nature of flesh is ever capable of appearing in. †3. colloquial. Of a person: wanting in animation or grace; stiff, wooden. Cf. sticky adj.² 6b. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1843 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 54 739/2 There seemed no reason why the ‘sticks’ should be so provokingly sticky; and it surprised me that a man who could accost one fluently enough at the stage door, should make such a bungle. 1881 E. Lynn Linton My Love! I. xii. 220 A girl looks such a stick when she does not talk like the rest; and I hate sticky girls. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022). stickyadj.² Brit. /ˈstɪki/, U.S. /ˈstɪki/ Forms: see stick v.¹ and -y suffix¹ Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: stick v.¹, -y suffix¹. Etymology: < stick v.¹ + -y suffix¹. 1. a. Tending or designed to stick to things on contact, adhesive; (of a substance) viscid, glutinous. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > [adjective] thickc888 toughc1000 cleavingc1350 gluey1382 gluish1382 gleiming1387 gummya1398 clammy1398 gleimy1398 viscosec1400 viscousc1400 emplastic?a1425 plastery?c1425 stiffc1430 clamc1440 engleimous?c1475 rawky1509 rich1535 clammish1543 limy1552 strong1560 glutinous1576 cloggy1587 emplastical1590 viscuous1603 plasterish1610 slaba1616 bound1635 viscid1635 lentous1646 spiscious1655 melleous1656 salivarious1656 glutining1658 syrupical1659 glairy1662 gummous1669 gummose1678 mellaginous1681 melligineous1684 pargety1684 sticky1688 sizy1691 dauby1697 syrupy1707 treacly?1734 glaireous1755 flabbyc1780 spissid1782 stodgy1823 waxy1835 teery1848 treacle-like1871 viscoid1877 slauming1904 gooey1906 gloopy1929 gunky1937 gungy1962 yucky1975 the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > [adjective] > attached by something adhesive > having adhesive quality cleavingc1350 holdingc1400 withholdingc1430 fatc1503 gluing1572 adhering1592 viscous1605 tenacious1648 birdlimey1657 adhesive1661 agglutinating1664 sticky1688 clingy1708 adherescent1743 tacky1788 detainable1801 detentive1881 stickfast1888 stick-on1904 1688 T. Jones Y Gymraeg yn ei Disgleirdeb: Dict. Welsh & Eng. Hylyn, gludiog, sticky, glewy, tenatious. 1699 G. Harvey Vanities Philos. & Physick v. 34 If it be not evaporated enough, it will be sticky, and not apt to be brought to a Mass. 1705 R. Pitt Frauds Common Pract. Physick 62 The now always us'd Confections of Treacle and Mithridate, the foul sticky Conserves. 1796 J. Boys Gen. View Agric. Kent (new ed.) 78 Pinnock..is a sticky red clay, mixed with small stones. 1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 31 A well-known sticky substance called putty. 1855 H. W. Longfellow in S. Longfellow Life H. W. Longfellow (1891) II. 290 Everything sticky except postage-stamps. 1864 Intellectual Observer V. 269 In like manner limpid fluids oppose less resistance than sticky ones. 1870 C. Dickens Edwin Drood iii. 20 I'm too stickey to be kissed. 1908 E. Fowler Between Trent & Ancholme 378 Smelling of sticky paint and varnish. 1909 G. Stein Three Lives 27 The horses dragged the carriage slowly over the long road, sticky with brown clay. 1940 N. Mitford Pigeon Pie v. 95 ‘I have just labelled a few little things of my own..’ she said, putting a sticky one firmly on to the giant radiogram. 1996 M. Syal Anita & Me (1997) iii. 48 My hands were sticky from the Zoom lolly I'd just ingested in one gulp. 2011 Toronto Star (Nexis) 12 Aug. (Entertainment section) e1 The hot, sticky mess of oozing marshmallow and melted chocolate. b. Originally U.S. Of the weather, a day, etc.: hot and humid; muggy. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [adjective] > oppressively still or close mocha1522 faint1525 close1591 clit1610 muggy1638 pothery1696 mochy1794 mucky1804 mungy1809 sulky1817 sticky1855 languorous1887 soggy1897 1855 Spirit of Times 17 Mar. 51/3 The day was of the ‘nastiest’ August kind—hot as melted lead—muggy and sticky. 1876 Hub Mar. 394/1 On these warm, close, sticky, disagreeable days, when every thing that attaches to the paint craft seems to be bewitched. 1977 Washington Post 30 June f2/4 Hot, sticky summer weather—the kind of weather that seems to attack the mind as well as the body with its oppressiveness. 1983 National Trust Spring 16/1 On one of those stifling, sticky days of this curious summer.., at rehearsal, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Norman del Mar were all in shirt sleeves. 2013 R. A. Shelden Washington Brotherhood i. 14 After braving a hot and sticky summer in Washington, members were anxious for the session's end. c. Medicine. Designating abnormal sounds heard during auscultation of the chest (perhaps thought to resemble the sound of the flow of a viscid fluid, or of the rubbing together of two viscid surfaces). ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sounds heard in body > [adjective] > sounds in auscultation puerile1821 pectoriloquous1824 large1827 sibilant1833 tubular1834 moist1843 rhonchal1843 pectoriloquial1846 redux1848 murmurish1851 rhonchial1852 bronchophonic1862 sticky1872 coarse1879 skodaic1882 1872 A. L. Loomis Lessons Physical Diagnosis (ed. 3) viii. 76 The rales sometimes are sticky in character, and do not change or disappear in coughing. 1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 681 The posterior parts of the lungs are full of sharp, sticky rales of a quality quite peculiar to the disease. 1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 756 [Pericardial friction sound] has also been described as ‘sticky’. 1960 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 26 Nov. 1585/2 There were sticky rales throughout the lungs. 2010 B. K. Walsh & N. Vehse in B. K. Walsh et al. Perinatal & Pediatric Respiratory Care (ed. 3) xxxii. 568/2 Chest auscultation reveals diffuse, coarse, ‘sticky’ rales (‘Velcro’ rales), which may be accompanied by wheezes. d. Of a person: unpleasantly damp with sweat. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > perspirations > [adjective] > covered or damp with sweat swotyc893 besweatc1275 forswatc1325 wetc1400 all on a watera1438 foaming1590 sweaty1590 sweated1654 deliquescent1815 perspiry1860 sticky1884 1884 Testimony Special Comm. State Lunatic Asylum at Utica (N.Y.) 1207 She began to lose appetite, took an electric bath, vomited and complained of feeling sticky. 1903 Dry Goods Reporter 1 Aug. 17/1 The heat and moisture together made everybody feel as sticky as if they had applied a mucilage brush liberally. 1961 M. G. Eberhart Cup, Blade, or Gun xi. 127 She felt cold and hot, sticky and chilly at the same time. 1988 P. P. Read Season in West vii. 94 Feeling sticky after a day in a dirty city..Birek decided to take a bath. 2009 New Statesman (Nexis) 22 June 20 Rickety green buses overloaded with weary, sticky, commuters. 2. a. Horse Racing. Of a racecourse: having a yielding surface owing to rain. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > racecourse > [adjective] > condition of course sticky1820 raceable1933 1820 Examiner 26 Mar. 130 At the pace, and the turf being rather sticky, the steeple-chaser was too much for him. 1843 Sporting Mag. July 3 We apprehend that the course was a trifle too sticky for his action. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 17 July 6/3 The hurdle race... Here again the time—16 2-5 sec.—on ‘sticky’ turf, was excellent. 1933 Waterloo (Iowa) Daily Courier 27 Apr. 10/3 Mrs. William Crump's Head Play..breezed six furlongs over the sticky course. 1983 M. Foreman & P. Wyse M. Foreman's Horse-training Sci. xiii. 105/1 On sticky ground it may take more than three strides for the horse to reduce his speed. 1990 Canberra Times 15 Sept. (Race Guide) 1/3 She handled a very sticky track the day she won at Doomben. b. (a) Cricket. Of the pitch: drying after recent rain and hence difficult to bat on. Chiefly in sticky wicket (see wicket n. 3c). Cf. sticky n. 3. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [adjective] > types of surface fast1844 sticky1870 fiery1874 kicking1885 kicky1888 1870 Bell's Life in London 16 July 3/2 The wicket was sticky, from recent rain, and scores were small. 1871 Bell's Life in London 8 July 12/3 A sticky wicket conduced to the defeat of the Butterflies on the first innings. 1878 Leader (Melbourne) 10 Aug. 13/3 On a sticky wicket, with eighteen good men in the field, [he] was found extremely difficult to score from. 1924 A. C. Maclaren Cricket Old & New xiv. 140 On sticky wickets I should doubt if he ever put down a bad ball. 1948 Manch. Guardian 5 Jan. 2/7 The wicket was a sticky one at first. 1949 Chronicle (Adelaide) 3 Nov. 42/5 Few people realise that the first experience Don Bradman ever had of a sticky pitch was in his first Test match! 1996 T. N. Murari Steps from Paradise 63 It wasn't the cricket season but he wished it was. ‘A sticky wicket,’ he laughed. ‘I'd get a lot of turn on that once it begins drying.’ (b) figurative. colloquial. sticky wicket: an awkward or difficult situation. Chiefly in on a sticky wicket: facing an awkward or difficult situation; in difficulties. Also more fully in to bat (also play) on a sticky wicket: to contend with difficulties. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > difficulty > present difficulties [verb (intransitive)] > have difficulty > have to contend with difficulties to row against the (wind and) tide (also stream, flood, etc.)c1230 to have a tough (hard, long, etc.) row to hoe1810 to spell baker1868 to bat (also play) on a sticky wicket1930 1930 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 14 Apr. 6/4 I am afraid tonight, owing to the rain we have had in this island of Springs, I am batting on rather a sticky wicket. 1931 Times 8 Dec. 14/4 Paying a tribute to the work of Sir Stanley Jackson, who had held the office of Governor of Bengal during a most trying time, Lord Willingdon said:—He has played on a terribly sticky wicket all the time he has been here. 1952 National News-Let. 24 Jan. 244 It must be clearly understood that Mr. Churchill was batting on a very sticky wicket in Washington. 1957 P. Kemp Mine were of Trouble ix. 177 Until substantial reinforcements could arrive we should be batting, in the language of Mr. Naunton Wayne, on a very sticky wicket. 1964 Language 40 239 Enmeshed in these remarks, however, is a sticky wicket. 1971 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 24 Sept. 517 When it comes..to moulded plastics of various kinds, then the timber producer is on a stickier wicket. 2007 Economist 5 May 56/1 Some of the islands' economies may face a sticky wicket. 3. figurative. Mawkish, cloying; excessively sentimental. Cf. sticky-sweet adj. at Compounds, treacly adj. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > sentimentality > [adjective] sugary1591 maudlina1631 mawkish1702 sickly1766 emetic1770 mawky1773 pamby1820 sentimental1823 saccharine1841 sticky1841 mushy1848 sentimentalizing1856 Christmas card1860 maumish1866 slobbery1875 namby-pamby1883 sloppy1883 slushy1889 sentimentalistic1904 marshmallowy1907 hearts and flowers1911 slobby1913 soppy1918 meltyc1921 lavender1928 saccharescent1930 schmaltzya1934 sloshy1933 gooey1935 icky1938 cheesy1943 drippy1952 soupy1953 squishy1953 saccharined1962 gloopy1965 yechy1969 yucky1970 sucky1971 yuck1971 schmoozy1976 1841 tr. M. Lafarge Memoirs II. xix. 249 She was a young old maid..whose words were somewhat sticky [Fr. gluantes] with the honey of flattery. 1865 Westm. Rev. Oct. 272/1 He writes in the treacly, sticky style. 1915 R. Frost Let. 11 Nov. (1964) 17 He needn't go calling himself sticky names like Gayheart in public. 1925 N. Coward Fallen Angels i. 16 I hope you're not..hurt at our refusing to call you Jasmin?.. It's a sticky name, isn't it—for the house? 2009 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 26 Feb. It's a sweet, if somewhat sticky, tale of redemption and friendships renewed. 4. a. Of a horse: tending to pause before and after jumping a fence, ditch, etc.; reluctant to take jumps. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [adjective] > leaping or prancing > that pauses before and after jumping fence sticky1845 1845 Sporting Mag. June 379 Such a horse would give a man fewer falls than a sticky jumper. 1853 Sporting Rev. Jan. 271 That..makes all the difference between the magnificent fencer you look forward with pleasure to riding..and the sticky brute. 1886 St. Stephen's Rev. 13 Mar. 11/2 He has one fatal fault for a Liverpool horse which is being sticky at his fences. 1921 19th Cent. Jan. 94 The other occasion is when driving a ‘sticky’ horse at a fence. 1969 Times 7 Apr. 11/1 An abortive endeavour to push a sticky young horse round the novice course. 2007 J. C. Wofford 101 Eventing Tips iii. 107 If your horse is sticky over the ditch, you can pull off to the side. b. Military. Of troops: slow or reluctant to follow orders. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > armed forces > [adjective] > qualities mainc1450 weak1488 unserviceablea1599 new-raised?1609 unrecruited1649 regulated1650 strongish1652 steady1670 mastering1711 undisciplined1718 unbroken1720 reduced1817 sticky1898 mechanicalized1901 u/s1942 society > authority > lack of subjection > [adjective] > not readily responding to command unready1595 sticky1898 1898 G. W. Steevens With Kitchener to Khartum 305 When they were told to bring out their arms and ammunition they became a bit sticky, as soldiers say. They looked like refusing [etc.]. 1902 Macmillan's Mag. Sept. 394 It was this sort of thing which earned for some troops the..admirably descriptive title of sticky. 1915 W. L. Williams Let. 22 May in P. Hart Gallipoli (2011) vii. 162 We ought to have been able to seize the crest quite easily, but the men were sticky and lack of officers very apparent. 1937 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Sept. 685/4 If the troops had not been ‘sticky’ he would have succeeded. 5. a. Chiefly Stock Market. Of a security or commodity: difficult or slow to sell. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [adjective] > types of securities > types of stock rigged1826 flat1841 watered1865 sticky1866 weak1875 washed1886 blue chip1894 pawned1903 stripped1979 1866 Vermont Chron. 6 Oct. 3/4 The ordinary fine wool and grades were rather sticky; that is to say, drovers were very much troubled to get their prices for their droves. 1891 Economist 3 Oct. 1276/1 Under certain conditions these securities are rather ‘sticky.’ 1901 Times 24 Oct. 7/5 [Local Loans Stock] is ceasing to be ‘sticky’, to use the Stock Exchange slang describing a security which cannot always be sold just when the holder chooses. 1937 Sun (Baltimore) 28 June 12/1 Several recent offerings have been described as ‘sticky’ by dealers—meaning only partially sold. 1960 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Dec. 7/2 Underwriters released two ‘sticky’ corporate debt issues to the free market. 1985 GC & HTJ 22 Mar. 12/3 You may think I am ‘selling my book’, as the stock brokers say when they are unloading a batch of sticky shares they have on hand. b. Economics. Of prices, interest rates, wages, etc.: resistant to change, slow to respond to altered conditions. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [adjective] > resistant to change (of wage) sticky1904 1904 Campaign Guide (National Union Conservative Assoc. Scotl.) (ed. 10) xiv. 524 In regard to rates in Scotland.., they are more likely to be borne by the owner than is the case in England, where they are paid by the occupier, on the principle that rates are ‘sticky’. 1930 Economist 6 Sept. 453/1 In many cases the amount of available stock has been limited, and when a fair supply has been in sight prices have proved surprisingly ‘sticky’. 1936 J. M. Keynes Gen. Theory Employment iv. xvii. 232 Wages tend to be sticky in terms of money, the money-wage being more stable than the real wage. 1978 Daily Tel. 18 Dec. 14/7 Building society rates tend to follow movements in market rates only rather erratically and usually with a time-lag. As economists say they tend to be ‘sticky’. 2009 Sunday Times (Nexis) 22 Mar. (Business section) 1 Many components of government spending are ‘sticky’ and will prove difficult to cut even in a period of falling prices. 6. colloquial. a. Of a situation, event, issue, etc.: awkward, difficult, tricky; disagreeable, uncomfortable. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > difficulty > [adjective] arvethc885 uneathOE arvethlichc1000 evilc1175 hardc1175 deara1225 derfa1225 illc1330 wickeda1375 uneasy1398 difficul?a1450 difficile?1473 difficulta1527 unready1535 craggy1582 spiny1604 tough1619 uphill1622 shrewda1626 spinousa1638 scabrous1646 spinose1660 rugged1663 cranka1745 tight1764 thraward1818 nasty1828 upstream1847 awkward1860 pricklyc1862 bristling1871 sticky1871 rocky1873 dodgy1898 challengeful1927 solid1943 ball-busting1944 challenging1975 the world > action or operation > difficulty > types of difficulty > [adjective] > difficult or awkward ungaina1500 ungainful1565 awky1655 awkward1709 embarrassing1778 unked1861 sticky1871 1871 Era 13 Aug. 10/4 'Tis not a part for a ‘stick’ to play, although, in theatrical parlance, rather a ‘sticky’ part. 1915 D. O. Barnett Let. in In Happy Memory 86 We had a rather sticky time in the trenches..as the enemy's artillery and snipers showed ‘a certain liveliness’. 1942 P. G. Wodehouse Money in Bank xix. 182 It is a human trait to keep on hoping, however sticky the outlook. 1955 Times 22 Aug. 2/7 The play became rather sticky and it looked like one or two fouls before the umpires blew on a B.A.O.R. player. 1960 L. Cooper Accomplices i. ii. 17 It was the stickiest do I've ever been in and I thanked God I'd been taught to fight. 1976 Lancs. Evening Post 7 Dec. 1/5 Preston South Labour MP Mr Stan Thorne..faced the prospect of a sticky interview with Government whips. 1977 B. Pym Quartet in Autumn xv. 127 He was so used to sticky church occasions that a lunch with two former colleagues should have been well within his powers. 1979 Nature 7 June 461/2 The sticky issues, however, will be over the appropriate forms of accountability and responsibility. 2009 Daily Tel. 23 Nov. 1/6 Things got sticky when I refused to conduct offensive operations against Mahdi Army as directed. b. Of a person or his or her behaviour: difficult to cope with, awkward, uncooperative; tending to make difficulties (about or over something). Also: strait-laced, punctilious, particular. Cf. sticky adj.¹ 3. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > difficulty > types of difficulty > [adjective] > difficult or intractable (of things) > difficult to deal with (of persons) difficult1589 awkwardish1613 awkward1863 sticky1882 the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > discourtesy > [adjective] > not affable strange1338 estrangec1374 formal?1518 cold1557 squeamish1561 icy1567 buckrama1589 repulsive1598 starched1600 unaffable1603 stiff1608 withdrawing1611 reserved1612 aloof1639 cool1641 uncordial1643 inaffable1656 staunch1659 standfra1683 distant1710 starcha1716 distancing1749 pokerish1779 buckramed1793 angular1808 easeless1811 touch-me-not1817 starchy1824 standoffish1826 offish1827 poker-backed1830 standoff1837 stiffish1840 chilly1841 unapproachable1848 hedgehoggy1866 sticky1882 hard-to-get1899 stand-away1938 princesse lointaine1957 1882 L. Troubridge Jrnl. in J. Hope-Nicholson Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 162 Rather a sticky audience who evidently thought it vulgar to laugh, and only sniggered into their pocket handkerchiefs. 1925 T. E. Lawrence Let. 3 Nov. (1938) 486 I've got too many subscribers, so am very sticky over these last copies. 1933 C. Mackenzie Water on Brain viii. 115 Personally I've always advocated the spending of money. The only snag is the Treasury. They've been sticky lately. 1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins iii. 34 He didn't actually call me a waster..but his manner was sticky. 1940 R. Graves & A. Hodge Long Week-end ix. 135 Even the stickiest British families seemed ready to abandon their mistrust of the cinema, if the vulgar American scene could only be replaced by a wholesome British one. 1953 J. Bingham Five Roundabouts to Heaven iii. 26 Sometimes aunt Emily was a bit sticky about paying up. 1954 National Advocate (Bathurst, Austral.) 28 May 8/4 He hadn't wanted to go over to Pete Renton; Pete was a sticky customer. 1972 J. Philips Vanishing Senator (1973) iii. ii. 127 Bernstein will tell you. If he acts sticky have him call me. 2007 G. Hurley One Under xvi. 351 They got sticky about deadlines up at QA. 7. a. Long-lasting, persistent. ΘΚΠ the world > time > duration > [adjective] > long-lasting or enduring longeOE longsomeeOE long of lifeOE lastinga1225 cleaving1340 continualc1340 dwellingc1380 long-livinga1382 everlastingc1384 long-duringa1387 long-lasting?a1400 long-liveda1400 broadc1400 permanable?c1422 perseverant?a1425 permanentc1425 perdurable?a1439 continuedc1440 abiding1448 unremoved1455 eternalc1460 long-continued1464 continuing1526 long-enduring1527 enduring1532 immortal1538 diuturn?1541 veterated1547 resiant?1567 stayinga1568 well-wearinga1568 substantive1575 pertinacious1578 extant1581 ceaseless1590 marble1596 of length1597 longeval1598 diuturnal1599 nine-lived1600 chronic1601 unexhausted1602 chronical1604 endurable1607 continuant1610 indeflourishing1610 aged1611 indurant1611 continuatea1616 perennious1628 seculara1631 undiscontinueda1631 continuated1632 untransitory1632 long-spun1633 momently1641 stative1643 outliving1645 constant1653 long-descended1660 voluminousa1661 perduring1664 perdurant1671 livelong1673 perennial1676 longeve1678 consequential1681 unquenched1703 lifelong1746 momentary1755 inveterate1780 stabile1797 persistent1826 unpassing1831 all-time1846 year-long1846 teak-built1847 lengthful1855 long-term1867 long haul1873 sticky1879 week-to-week1879 perenduring1883 long-range1885 longish1889 long-time1902 long run1904 long-life1915 1879 Gardeners' Chron. 8 Mar. 297/3 A bad reputation is usually of a very sticky nature, and difficult to shake off. 1914 R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins in Panhandle xxxvi. 373 What a state a feller's mind must be in to shake off two sticky names like Lester and Percival, and then to label himself Gerald of his own free will. 1996 J. G. Geer Tea Leaves to Opinion Polls i. 36 Because of the commitment citizens have to their ‘sticky’ views, officeholders must..win over a doubtful electorate. 2012 Denver Post (Nexis) 21 Sept. 5 c There aren't any catch phrases as absurdly sticky as ‘I drink your milkshake’. b. Computing. Of a thread in a mailing list, newsgroup, or other online forum: set to always appear first in the list of threads displayed on that forum. Also of a post in a blog or within a thread on an online forum: set to always appear above the rest of the posts. Cf. sticky n. 5.Sticky posts and threads typically contain information considered to be important or useful to the user. ΚΠ 1995 Newbee Out to save Usenet in news.future (Usenet newsgroup) 21 Feb. Sticky posts..for FAQ's... The sticky posts would require a net addressable archive site. 2005 ExtremeTech.com (Nexis) 15 Feb. Just click the ‘Thread Options’ link..and you can easily..make the thread sticky. 2016 WordPress Web Design for Dummies (ed. 3) 298 You can use a custom tag to display custom styles for sticky posts (posts that stay at the top of your blog at all times). c. Of a website, mobile app, etc.: attracting long or repeated visits from users. ΚΠ 1996 Boston Globe 13 Dec. c16/2 You have to make your Web site sticky; you have to make it fun and entertaining so people will want to come back. 2000 Times 3 Aug. (Appointments Network Executive section) 4/2 Website experts measure the attractiveness of pages by how ‘sticky’ they are, or how long visitors dwell. 2006 Observer (Nexis) 26 Mar. 9 News Corp's plan is to improve on the portal model by making MySpace inherently sticky using both technology and content. 2012 Rough Notes Sept. 26/1 Agents struggle..with creating sound, interesting, and ‘sticky’ content day in and day out. Phrases P1. sticky fingers: used allusively to indicate that someone is given to stealing. Frequently in to have sticky fingers: to be given to stealing, to be a thief.Cf. sticky-fingered adj. at Compounds, to have fingers made of lime-twigs at finger n. Phrases 2d. ΚΠ 1840 Med. Times 25 Jan. 170/3 The managers of the public institutions in question have strangely sticky fingers. 1976 A. Miller Inside Outside i. 16 To safeguard the money from the sticky fingers of some of the boys. 1993 F. Weldon in M. Bradbury & A. Motion New Writing 2 119 Serve them right, we cry—the bastards, the property developers, sticky fingers in the pension fund. 1995 Denver Post 5 Mar. a13/1 I can remember his mother drank too much and had sticky fingers. P2. colloquial. to come to a sticky end and variants: to die or come to grief in violent or exceptionally unpleasant circumstances. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail or be unsuccessful [verb (intransitive)] > come to grief misfareOE miswendOE misferec1275 misspeeda1387 miscarryc1387 mischieve?a1400 to catch copper1530 to lose one's seatc1540 mischief1598 to bu(r)st one's boiler1824 to come to grief1850 to come (also go) a mucker1851 to come (fall, get) a cropper1858 mucker1862 to go or be up the flume1865 to come undone1899 to play smash1903 to come to a sticky end1904 to come unstuck1911 the world > life > death > manner of death > die in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > die violently perishc1275 to shed blood?1473 to die in one's shoes1694 to come to a sticky end1904 1904 Telegraph (Brisbane) 3 Aug. 6/1 His warning that Madame Sophie, if she did not mind, would come to a ‘nasty, sticky end’, was the signal for screams of laughter. 1913 Hansard Commons 10 July 685 That Government came to a more sticky end than almost any other Government in the last hundred years. 1915 H. Rosher In Royal Naval Air Service (1916) 40 I wish we could get out to the front... I would much rather come to a sticky end out there than here. 1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement xi. 566 Never mind, he'll come to a sticky finish before he's done. 1970 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird ix. 142 The heroines I've seen come to a sticky end because while the murderer's still running around no one calls in the police. 1998 Callaloo 21 549 Of the six protagonists, some meet a sticky end, others disappear without a sound, and still others bring hope. 2006 Heat 18 Mar. 110/3 The moustachioed sleuth..ends up snooping for clues when the host comes to a sticky end. Compounds stickyback n. chiefly British (now rare) a small stamp-sized photograph with a gummed back; (also) a poster with a gummed back. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > a photograph > [noun] > photograph by style or subject high key1849 carte1861 carte-de-visite1861 wedding group1861 vignette1862 studio portrait1869 press photograph1873 cameo-type1874 war picture1883 mug1887 panel1888 snapshot1890 visite1891 fuzz-type1893 stickyback1903 action photograph1904 action picture1904 scenic1913 still1916 passport photo1919 mosaic1920 press photo1923 oblique1925 action shot1927 passport photograph1927 profile shot1928 smudgea1931 glossy1931 photomontage1931 photomural1931 head shot1936 pin-up1943 mug shot1950 wedding photograph1956 wedding photo1966 full-frontal1970 photofit1970 split beaver1972 upskirt1994 selfie2002 society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publishing or spreading by leaflets or notices > [noun] > placarding, postering, or billing > a placard, notice, or bill > types of window bill?1790 showcard1826 officiality1843 window card1846 star bill1876 one-sheet1895 stickyback1903 hanger1905 wanted poster1925 dazibao1960 wall-poster1962 1903 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. 3 July 540/1 The apparatus for producing ‘Sticky-backs’ may be obtained of Messrs. Sharp and Hitchmough. 1906 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. 10 Aug. 639/1 I at once set my face against cheap or nasty work, also midgets or stickybacks. 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. iv. [Calypso] 55 Stamps: stickyback pictures. 1928 Weekly Disp. 20 May 2/2 She..brought out a sticky-back of a gentleman in his shirt-sleeves. 1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Let. 4 Jan. in Coll. Ess. (1968) I. 378 The commonsense thing to do would be to accumulate the things we should need for the production of pamphlets, stickybacks etc. sticky-backed plastic n. Chiefly British = sticky-back plastic n. ΚΠ 1965 San Antonio (Texas) Light 21 Dec. 35/1 Begin with an empty oatmeal carton, cover it with sticky-backed plastic paper. 2007 R. Feasey Primary Sci. for Teaching Assistants viii. 69 Glass mirrors should be backed with tape or sticky-backed plastic so that if the mirror is dropped the pieces stay together. sticky-back plastic n. Chiefly British a sheet of thin clear or coloured plastic film with adhesive on one side, used as a protective covering. ΚΠ 1961 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 14 Aug. 5 The Game Commission has devised a new big game tag, sticky back plastic packed something like a big band-aid, with different color for the different animals. 2009 J. Stroud in W. Jackson Completely Conkers 13 ‘You'll need an empty washing up liquid bottle, a couple of toilet rolls, an egg box and a sheet of green sticky-back plastic.’ Words that launched one-thousand-and-one epic Blue Peter craft projects. sticky bomb n. (during the Second World War (1939–45)) an anti-tank grenade covered with an adhesive substance to make it stick to its target; (in later use) any bomb designed to stick to its target. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > grenade trombe1562 grenade1591 grenado1611 granata1637 hand grenade1637 bag-granado1638 shell1647 glass-grenade1664 globe1672 flask1769 petrol bomb1903 rifle grenade1909 hairbrush1916 Mills1916 pineapple bomb1916 stick grenade1917 fragmentation bomb1918 pineapple1918 potato-masher grenade1925 spitball1925 Molotov cocktail1940 sticky bomb1940 stick-bomb1941 red devila1944 stun grenade1977 flash-bang1982 1940 W. S. Churchill Let. 6 June in Second World War (1949) II. i. viii. 149 It is of the utmost importance to find some projectile which can be fired from a rifle at a tank... The ‘sticky’ bomb seems to be useful for..this. 1941 Daily Mirror 9 July 8/2 ‘Sticky bombs’ are now being used by the British forces against Vichy armoured units in Syria. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File vi. 38 It was a sticky bomb about as big as two cans of soup end to end; on impact its very small explosive charge spread a sort of napalm through tank visors. 2012 M. R. Gordon & B. E. Trainor Endgame xxvi. 502 While he was gone a ‘sticky bomb’ attached to the back of his chair exploded. sticky bun n. a sweet bun, esp. one covered in icing or sugar; (North American) a (typically spiral-shaped) bun with a filling of nuts or dried fruit and a sticky caramelized coating. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > bun > [noun] bun1371 wig1376 barley-bun1552 simnel cake1699 simlin1701 muffin1703 Chelsea bun1711 cross-bun1733 hot cross bun1733 penny bun1777 Sally Lunn1780 huffkin1790 Bath-bun1801 teacake1832 English muffin1842 saffron bun1852 Belgian bun1854 Valentine-bun1854 cinnamon roll1872 lunn1874 Yorkshire teacake1877 barmbrack1878 cinnamon bun1879 sticky bun1880 pan dulce1882 schnecke1899 wad1919 tabnab1933 1880 Daily News 19 Aug. 5/7 These outlays..debar him from any indulgence in the sticky buns with sugarplums on the top. 1883 Leisure Hour Sept. 517/1 That's one of the things I hate—eating in a railway carriage; the peculiar smell of sticky buns, too, and of orange peel. 1909 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Daily Press 31 Aug. 2/4 Josef's thoughts and fingers lingered around a sticky bun in his desk. 1961 Times 14 Mar. 7/3 There are no more sticky buns or cream doughnuts for hungry schoolboys at March Grammar School. 1992 I. Banks Crow Road (1993) vii. 171 Come on; yer Aunty Ashley'll buy you a coffee and a sticky bun. 2002 Backwoods Home Mag. Nov. 57/3 Make cinnamon sweet rolls or sticky buns. sticky catchfly n. any of several flowering plants of the genus Silene (family Caryophyllaceae), having sticky stems, seeds, etc.; esp. a Eurasian campion of rocks and crags, S. viscaria, having spikes of bright pink flowers and often dark sticky bands around the stem beneath each node (also called clammy campion, red catchfly). ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > campions and catchflies rose campion1530 jagged pink1574 cuckoo-gilliflower1578 flower Constantinople1578 marsh gilliflower1578 wild William1578 crow-flower1597 gardener's delight1597 nonsuch1597 cuckoo-flower1629 fair maid of France1629 meadow pink1660 Bristol Non-such1668 flower of Bristol1672 knight-cross1725 ragged robin1731 fair maid of Kent1813 flower of Jove1840 mullein pink1840 fire pink1848 sticky catchfly1908 1908 Amer. Florist 26 Dec. 1100/2 L[ychnis] Viscaria splendens plena—the clammy or sticky catchfly—so called on account of the sticky substance exuding from near the base of the flowers and the upper parts of the stems. 1923 Vet. Med. Aug. 737/2 J. W. Provan of Traer, Iowa, sends in a specimen of sticky catchfly which has been suspected of being poisonous. The technical name of this plant is Silene noctiflora. 1984 J. Cooper Common Years 252 We then try to identify tall shocking-pink flower by Flasher's Point. Rachel thinks it's sticky catchfly, which sounds rather dubious, bearing in mind its location. 2007 Evening News (Edinb.) (Nexis) 8 Mar. 22 Arthur's Seat is a Site of Special Scientific Interest with interesting rock formations and unusual plants such as sticky catchfly. sticky dog n. Cricket colloquial a pitch that has been drying after rain and is difficult to bat on; cf. sticky wicket at sense 2b(a). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [noun] > surface of ground > types of batsman's wicket1876 bowler's wicket1876 shirt front1893 sticky dog1904 sticky1936 turning pitch1956 belter1983 1904 Navy & Army Illustr. 9 July 467/1 On a ‘sticky dog’ Rhodes is probably the best bowler in the world. 1982 P. Tinniswood More Tales from Long Room vii. 86 When the sun appears again, as appear it always will, there will be no ‘sticky dog’ and play will be resumed on time. 2013 Cricketer May 58/1 Burgess: It was the worst pitch we played on of all those tour matches. Turner: A sticky dog. sticky end n. Genetics an end of a DNA double helix at which one strand extends a few nucleotides beyond the other. The end of the DNA strand is ‘sticky’ because it easily binds to a complementary strand. ΚΠ 1964 F. H. C. Crick in Proc. 6th Internat. Congr. Biochem. 112/2 The lysogenic virus λ appears to have ‘sticky ends’, and one can form a circle, or several can join together end to end into a large circle or longer straight line. 1968 New Scientist 18 July 142/1 This [enzyme] can be used for linking up small nucleotide sequences by what Professor Khorana calls the ‘sticky end’ technique. 1988 Financial Times 19 Jan. 32/8 Oligomers of 50-80 base pairs with sticky ends of 5-7 base pairs. 2012 L. Buckingham Molecular Diagnostics (ed. 2) i. 14/2 Sticky ends can be converted to blunt ends using DNA polymerase to extend the recessed strand in a sticky end. sticky-fingered adj. given to stealing, light-fingered; cf. sticky fingers at Phrases 1. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > petty theft or pilfering > [adjective] light-fingered1546 lime-fingered1546 pilfering1546 fine-fingeredc1555 filching1570 mitching1576 lurching1577 lime-twig1602 nimming1603 pitchy1660 fingerative1674 marauding1748 light-handed1769 tarry1822 tarry-fingered1825 sticky-fingered1855 panhandling1884 tarry-fisted1906 1855 N.-Y. Daily Times 10 Sept. 4/3 The dumb endurance with which New-Yorkers submit to the extortions and malversations of their grabbing and sticky-fingered City Officials. 1932 D. Acland Sticky Fingers xxv. 314 What a crew we are—sticky-fingered, every one of us. 2012 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 Nov. (Business section) d5 Sticky-fingered employees pose a much bigger threat to retailers than their employers might have believed. sticky foam n. chiefly U.S. a highly adhesive viscous substance in the form of a foam which can be sprayed in string-like ribbons as a means of immobilizing a person, disabling a mechanism, etc.Sticky foam was developed and patented by Sandia National Laboratories in the late 1970s.In quot. 1967 not a fixed collocation. ΚΠ 1967 R. J. Heaston in Cellular Plastics (National Acad. Sci.-National Res. Council (U.S.)) i. 10 It is also quite possible that foamed plastics could be used for active devices such as foamed explosives, a foam thrower, or a sticky foam for use as an intrusion barrier.] 1978 Energy Res. Abstr. (U.S. Department of Energy) 30 Nov. 5281/2 Sticky foam... Access to a space is impeded by the generation of a sticky foam from a tacky polymeric resin and a low-boiling-point solvent. 1985 Washington Post 27 Aug. a5/5 When the lock is tampered with, it ‘releases a substance that's stickier than molasses into the locking mechanism’, Hoover said. ‘We call it sticky foam, and we think it works.’ 1995 Stars & Stripes 6 Nov. 3/1 During the 1994 U.S. troop withdrawal from Somalia, Marines used ‘sticky foam’ and road spikes to create barriers between Somalis and departing U.S. and U.N. personnel. 2001 Altoona (Pa.) Mirror 3 Mar. c2/6 Stink bombs and sticky foam have been tested, as well as sonic weapons whose high-intensity sound waves disrupt internal organs. sticky note n. (a) a small piece of (often yellow) notepaper with a lightly adhesive strip along one edge of the reverse side, enabling it to be stuck to a surface, and to be easily removed when necessary (cf. sticky n. 1b and Post-it n.); (b) Computing a note or comment attached to selected content in an electronic document, typically appearing in a separate window or frame to that of the document itself; (in later use also) a small window that can be placed within another window or screen and used for leaving notes and comments, typically designed to resemble a sticky note (sense (a)) and to remain in place even if the computer is restarted. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > paper > [noun] > other types of paper writing paper1610 gilt paper1645 chancery-double1712 stamp paper1765 satin paper1776 cardstock1840 tablet paper1876 quadrille1884 P.O.P.1895 copy-paper1902 Silurian1942 sticky note1978 1978 Lima (Ohio) News 17 Aug. 21/2 (advt.) Try sticky notes—The message that sticks to anything. Great for home or office. 1988 Herald (Melbourne) (Nexis) 15 June (Business section) 21 The sticky-note function in Debut can be set to pop up whenever a certain piece of text or series of numbers appear on the screen. 1996 G. Kent Internet Publishing with Acrobat ii. 33 Notes that are similar to the digital sticky notes commonly used to annotate information. 2014 M. Miller Top 100 Windows 8.1 Apps xvii. 199 You can pin any sticky note directly to the Windows Start screen. 2015 Smith Jrnl. Summer 138/1 I am there with these giant hundred-year-old books and my sticky notes and highlighter and pen. sticky paper n. (a) flypaper; (b) paper with a layer of adhesive on one side, usually in small pieces for attaching to another surface such as a larger sheet of paper or card. ΚΠ 1851 Era 25 May 5/1 As flies are caught upon sticky paper prepared for the grocer and the pastry-cook. 1925 Times 19 Mar. 6/4 I..have..put a bit of sticky paper over the yacht's name. 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It i. 3 They were caught..like the flies caught wriggling in sticky-paper. 2014 Church Times 4 Apr. 12/2 The words ‘Messy Church’ conjure up an image of toddlers, sticky paper, and toys. sticky rice n. a variety of rice, grown mainly in South, South East, and East Asia, which becomes glutinous when cooked. ΚΠ 1842 J. Brooke Jrnl. 20 June in H. Keppel Exped. Borneo (1846) I. xiii. 306 Their [sc. the Dyaks'] provision is a particular kind of sticky rice, boiled in bamboos. 1989 A. Tan Joy Luck Club 73 A woven hamper filled with zong zi—the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. 2014 Guardian 4 Oct. (Weekend Suppl.) 80/1 Sticky rice..served..inside a lidded bamboo kratip, every grain separate but clinging onto its pals for dear life. sticky-sweet adj. (esp. of food) that is both sticky and sweet; (figurative, of a person or thing) unpleasantly sweet, cloying. ΚΠ 1893 Punch 27 Mar. 241/1 The tarts we once were fain to eat, The penny ice, the jumble sticky-sweet. 1915 P. Scarlet Scarlet Fairy Bk. iv. 39 She spoke in a delicate sticky-sweet voice. 1962 R. Newton Cinderella 4 Cinderella is not the sticky-sweet variety in this version, but a..girl with a bubbling sense of humor. 1999 N.Y. Times 20 Sept. e6/4 Whenever his dead wife is mentioned, sticky-sweet music plays. 2007 M. Bittman How to cook Everything Vegetarian 424/1 Fresh dates are in season from late summer to the middle of fall, and they're sticky-sweet, tender, and juicy. sticky tape n. a strip of paper, plastic, or film coated with adhesive, used to mask or insulate something, or to stick two things together; adhesive tape.rare in U.S. usage. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > adhesive > [noun] > adhesive tape adhesive tape1887 sticky tape1890 duck tape1899 passepartout1910 durex tape1932 Scotch tape1934 durex1938 Sellotape1949 duct tape1965 1890 Amer. Gas Light Jrnl. 1 Sept. 297/1 Do not wrap three or four layers of sticky tape round the joints, and imagine that you have thereby restored the original insulation. 1973 R. Parkes Guardians ix. 162 The naked body had been strapped into the armchair with yards of sticky tape. 2008 Financial Times 16 Feb. (Life & Arts section) 9/3 The cheapest option is to use paper, pen and sticky tape. sticky toffee pudding n. originally and chiefly British a dessert consisting of a sponge cake with chopped dates, covered in a thick toffee sauce and typically served with ice cream or custard. In quot. 1976¹ referring to a different recipe. ΚΠ 1976 Observer 18 Apr. 19/5 She'd have started, she says, with Sticky Toffee Pudding, which happens when you soak very thick slices of bread in milk, fry them in butter or marge, and while they're doing, pour golden syrup over all. 1976 Guardian 11 Nov. 13/2 Britain still has a great deal to offer with sweets..like sticky toffee pudding and bakewell tarts. 2015 J. Atherton Social Sweets 75/1 In the dead of winter, nothing beats a good sticky toffee pudding at the end of a meal. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022). stickyv. Brit. /ˈstɪki/, U.S. /ˈstɪki/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: sticky adj.² Etymology: < sticky adj.² transitive. To make sticky; to smear with something sticky. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > make viscous or thicken [verb (transitive)] > smear with sticky substance limea1325 balmc1384 sticky1855 1855 Critic 15 Feb. 98/3 The new-old accomplishment Potichomanie with which beaux as well as belles are ‘stickying’ their hands. a1865 E. C. Gaskell Wives & Daughters (1866) II. vi. 51 Cook wanted a jar of preserve..I was sadly afraid of stickying my gloves. 1894 Harper's Mag. May 853/1 He's stickying all the velvet seat with his hands. 1915 Bk. News Monthly (U.S.) May 410/2 In his guilty heart he knew he must have stickied her when he put his arms round her beautiful white neck. 1992 A. Thorpe Ulverton xi. 253 Mr Bint slips the dark toffee into the paper bag. He knows I cannot bear to have my fingers stickied. 1999 New Eng. Rev. Fall 33 Salt stickied my skin. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1851adj.¹1542adj.²1688v.1855
随便看	parasorbic parasorbic acid party mix party monger party monster party monsters party mood party of reason party on party pamphlet party paper party passion party payment party per fess party per fess palissé party per fesse party per pale party per pile party piano party piece party plainand party plaintive party plan party platform party point

stickyn.

stickyadj.1

stickyadj.2

Phrases

Compounds

stickyv.

stickyadj.¹

stickyadj.²